Here's a practical reason that the numbers matter. If I am looking at a gun I like, there are things I want to know about it. Numbers quantify those things. I wouldn't buy a Fox HE if the ad said: chokes - .000"/.000" (no choke at all), neither would I want a 20 ga. for preserve quail that was choked .025"/.035". I'll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that many of the same people who decry speaking of choke in points of constriction would go into apoplexy if they didn't have the exact measurements for length of pull, drop at come and heel, and cast. Why? Do all guns with the exact same stock dimensions shoot exactly the same for all people? No, of course not. Neither do all barrels with the same choke constrictions shoot the same with all loads. But, you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Sure, there is a learning curve for understanding how barrel choke (constriction) affects patterns. It takes less constriction to effect change in patterns as the bore size gets smaller. Two thousandths constriction in a .410 may result in a 65% pattern, whereas it might take .006" to do that in a 12 gauge. The takeaway is that "The amount of constriction does not mandate the EXACT amount of pattern percentage, but it is the most influential factor in determining it". I, for one, want to know what the amount of constriction is, and I have gauges to determine it. And just because I want to know does not mean I worry about it.
SRH
Last edited by Stan; 03/12/16 06:22 AM.
